US Energy Officials to Erase All Data from Crypto Mining Survey

Agreement Reached to Halt Proposed Emergency Survey Targeting Crypto Miners in the US

The United States energy officials have come to an agreement with the Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) and Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms to stop its proposed emergency survey aimed at crypto miners across the country.

As stated in a filing on March 2, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have settled with the TBC and Riot to cease gathering information from crypto miners for their proposed three-year emergency survey, known as “EIA-862 Emergency Collection Request.”

The settlement also includes the deletion of any previously collected information from crypto miners, which the TBC and Riot deemed invasive, and the discarding of any future data.

This agreement effectively cancels the temporary restraining order, which was originally set to expire on March 8.

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As of Feb. 23, Cointelegraph reported that the court had temporarily halted the US energy regulators from gathering data while the lawsuit was ongoing.

This decision was made after the TBC and Riot convinced the judge that further data collection would cause irreversible harm.

The plaintiffs argued that the survey could result in significant damages, including non-recoverable compliance costs, a credible threat of prosecution for non-compliance, and the disclosure of proprietary information.

Find out more: Riot Platforms increased BTC production by 19% in 2023, mining 6,626 Bitcoin

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Despite an estimated completion time of 30 minutes, the court deemed the EIA’s survey estimation “extremely inaccurate.”

The TBC and Riot also disputed the estimate, citing over 40 hours spent on compliance thus far.

However, both parties have agreed to a new 60-day period for public feedback on the information the EIA is authorized to collect.

“Defendants have consented to a 60-day comment submission period, commencing upon the publication of the revised Federal Register Notice,” the filing stated.